Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for April 22, 2007
The Extra Room
There is a story in the Bible about the prophet Elisha. A wealthy woman from the town of Shunem, just north of Jezreel would invite him for a meal each time he passed that way. Deciding that this was probably a Holy Man of God, she and her husband thought to aid the prophet's work by making him a room to stay in on his regular travels across the land of Israel. Elisha wanted to reward their generosity and on discovering that the couple had no heir for their considerable wealth, the prophet promised the Shunammite woman a son within the year. The prophet's promise does come true.
So how do we prepare ourselves to be in community? How do we welcome community into our lives? How does the shape we give to our inner and outer spaces - the space of our souls and the space of our homes - give shape to our community?
I would like to think that the Shunammite woman knew that extending our hospitality is a sacred act requiring intention and care. True hospitality links the space of our home with the space of our soul. And community begins when we open up those places within ourselves, within our homes, to the holy.
WHERE TO START
A long time ago someone in Shunem built an extra room on the roof of her house for the holy one. So where do we start in preparing a space for the holy in our lives? Perhaps we can make time to do it on the weekends or before breakfast. We already have what we need to get started.
In our prayer class recently, we talked about making a sacred space or alter in our home. Jesus tells us, (Matthew 6:6) "Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
Realize, of course, that we are talking about the physical world and at the same time talking about the spiritual world within us. We can have a special room or an altar in our home - but true communion with God takes place within.
In the time of the Shunammite woman, people had many sacred objects and idols that they worshipped. The Jewish people had the Ark of the Covenant where they thought God dwelled.
The danger we face in setting up sacred objects is that we might think they have some special power. When, in fact, the power is within you, from God. When we have faith in an object, we may feel lost when the object is not there; that is why Jesus stressed going within to pray.
So think about what it means to you to make a room in case the holy one needs a place to stay. What would you put in the room? Are there objects that are sacred to you that would be there?
FOR WHOM ARE YOU PREPARING A SPACE?
The prophet Elisha spent a night in the room that had been built for him. And he asked, "What can I do for these people who have gone to so much trouble for me?" The Shunammite woman wanted nothing.
So Elisha said to her (2 Kings 4:16) "At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son." She replied, "No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant." She had wanted a son for so long that she was afraid to hope that it could happen.
So ask yourself, for whom do you prepare your space? What if the Holy One comes and tells you that you will have a new life. Will you think it is a lie? Will you be afraid to hope? Why do you think that it is a lie that God will give you a new life?
If you prepare space for your soul, a space for the holy, you may have to ask yourself if you are really ready to embrace all the good that God has for you. When you invite the holy into your home, be prepared to have your life change. Prepare yourself to seriously look at your wants and needs and desires.
WHAT SPACES HAVE COME WITH DIFFICULTY?
I wonder what the Shunammite woman went through. Did hospitality come easy to her, did she know what to put in the room for the holy one? I know that after the holy one came to her extra room, the Shunammite woman conceived and bore a son.
You might look at your past to see where your difficulties have been. What has stopped you before? What has made you believe that you can't have all the good that was intended for you? Do you think that something bad will happen if you accept God's good?
(Joshua 18:3) "How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord has given you?"
(Judges 18:10) "The land is broad--God has indeed given it into your hands--a place where there is no lack of anything on earth."
God has already given us everything - all good things are ours for the taking. Just imagine all the desires of your heart just hanging around in escrow - waiting for you to claim them. Imagine God saying, "How long will you be slack about going in and taking" all the things that I have provided for you?"
When you prepare a space for the holy, you allow your good to show up and live in your house with you. You allow God to live with you. What questions come to your mind when you think of working on your own space, on a room for the holy one?
WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN SURPRISED?
Have you ever been surprised when something really good shows up in your life. I know that I have. No matter how long I teach these principles, no matter how much I believe in them - I'm still surprised when wonderful things show up in my life. Other people have told me this too.
When you create a room for the holy one to live in - you will be surprised that it has no edges to it. There is no roof over it - only endless sky. When you go into the room you will have all seeing and all hearing.
And when you return from your room you will find that you have to reacquaint yourself with the reality of the physical world. A bit of the sky remains with you. Eventually you will be able to bring the room with you no matter where you are - and you will realize that you inhabit the room at all times.
So allow yourself to be surprised by all the good that God has provided for you. Allow yourself to embrace more and more of the holy in your daily life. What does your space open onto, or give way to?
REST IN THE INBETWEEN TIMES
But even when you have realized that you always have the inner room with you - there will be in-between times. Times when you can't seem to get in touch with God. Times when you just feel empty. And you try so hard to get back to where you were.
But it doesn't work that way. It is the trying that is holding you back from the holy. It is about working and resting. It is easy to work, but sometimes hard to rest. In the in-between times we are suppose to rest. When nothing happens, we are supposed to rest, not try harder.
(Isaiah 30:15) "For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."
The rose does not try to be a rose - it just is. We are holy only by realizing that it is our nature to be holy. Sometimes we have to just rest in that knowledge and allow God's will into our lives.
So allow times to go to the room with the holy one, but also allow time to rest and trust that what you have asked for is on it's way. Be quiet and trust in God's will to bring you even more than you ever asked for.
LET IT GO
When the Shunammite woman's son was older he went out with his father to the fields. The son started to complain that his head was hurting. The father has him carried to his mother at home. The child sat on her lap until noon, and then died.
The woman took him to the upper room and laid him on the bed there. Then she went and found the Holy Man. Grasping his feet, she said to Elisha (2 Kings 4:28) "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, Do not mislead me?"
So Elisha goes home with the woman and locks himself in with the boy in his room. He prays to God and then he lays on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. While he lay there the child became warm. So he got up and paced back and forth, then again he layed on the child the same way. The child sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. Then Elisha turned the child over to his mother, alive again.
Have you ever found new life only to lose it? Have you said to God, "Didn't I say, 'don't lie to me.' Why did you get my hopes up, and then take it from me?"
What does it mean to lay mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands and breathe life into the dead? Maybe it means that we need to love even the bad experiences. Maybe it means that we need to keep believing in new life even when we can't see it. Even when it seems that we have lost it.
And maybe it wasn't the thing that you lost - maybe it was you that you lost. You might have lost touch with the inner room. "Well, I've got what I want; now I don't have to pray any more." Maybe you lost touch with the sacred.
Can you lie mouth to mouth with what you lost? Can you match its vibration within you until you bring it back to life? Can you believe over and over again in new life?
Know, that you have the inner room, believe in it. Believe that the holy one is coming, believe in making new life, and in its sometime dying. Know that sometimes you have to become empty, to be filled.
HOW DO YOU CHANGE?
Your own comings and goings in your space will change that room. It will change you. As you give your soul space to stretch and grow you will become something new. Your room will become something new.
I don't know what your extra room is like. I don't know what went on inside the Shunammite lady. It's not for me to know other people's private stuff.
But, I want you to know that when I say my extra room is for the holy one, it means you. It means whoever needs an extra room that night. So if you need an extra room to stay in, a place where seeing and hearing have no edges, I have this place inside me now, and you are welcome there.
Feel the shape of your soul coming home. Know that you will always have this space. It may be in different places and perhaps with different people, but your room will define you, and you will define your room.
In each act of making welcome, in each search for a hospitable space, may God give you grace and a place to stretch out your soul. Amen
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:6; 2 Kings 4:8-37; Joshua 18:3; Judges 18:10; Isaiah 30:15
REFERENCE: Sacred Journeys by Jan L. Richardson; Pray Up Your Life by Charline E. Manuel
Last updated
April 23, 2007
